atwood



(No Model.) 3 ShetsSheet 1.

J. E. ATWOOD. MACHINE POR-REELING SILK, &c.

P I I HH UHH HHHI IHHUHHHI I IQ l Patented Apr, 8, 1884.

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Wibzesses H FCTERS. fimemum m hm. wwm m 0.1:v

(No Model.) a Sheets$het 2.

J. E. ATWOOD.

MACHINE FOR REELING SILK, 8w.

W'bzsse 1 (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet. 3

J. E. ATWOOD.

MACHINE FOB, REELING SILK, 8m.

Patented Apg.

UNrrsD STATES PATENT @rrrcn.

JOHN E. ATVVOOD, OF STOXINGTON, CONNECTICUT.

MACHINE FOR REELING SILK, 86C.

$PECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 296,378, dated April 8,1884.

i 1 Application filed February .37, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN E. ATWOOD, of Stonington, in the county of NewLondon and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Machines for Reeling Silk, &c., of which the followingis a specification.

My invention is applicable to machines. for reeling fibrous materials ofvarious kinds, and particularly to machines for reeling what is known insilk manufacture as organzine.

An important object of my invention is to combine four reels in oneframe or machine without couplings, so that any one of them may bestopped without necessitating the stopping of any of the others, and sothat each may be readily removed and replaced by another when full andready for steaming, drying, and removing the fibrous material from it.

To this end my invention consists in the combination of two pairs ofreel-shafts, the shafts of each pair being arranged side by side and inline with the shafts of the other pair, friction-wheels upon theadjacent inner ends of the several shafts, friction driving-wheels onwhich the friction-wheels of the shafts rest, means for raising any oneof the reel shafts independently of the others, so as to carry itsfriction-wheel out of contact with its friction drivingwheel, adriving-pulley arranged between the two pairs of shafts and midwaybetween the shafts ofeach pair, and mechanism for transmitting motionfrom said driving pulley to the several friction driving-wheels, all asmore fully hereinafter described.

The invention also consists in the combination, with one or more reelsand a separate stop motion for each reel, for raising the wheel on thereel-shaft out. of contact with the drivin g wheel or drum, of aseparate rotary counter or trip for each reel and a drop-lever for eachreel, which is acted upon by the counter or trip when a sufficientquantity of material is wound on the reel to which it appertains, andwhich acts upon the stop-motion to stop the reel.

The invention also consists in the combination,with a reel and itsstop-motion, of a counting device which operates through said stopmotionto stop the reel when a sufficient quantity of material is woundthereon, and a target or indicator operated by the counting device, andadapted to show at a glance by its position whether the stoppage of thereel is caused by the desired amount of material being wound on the reelor not. I also combine with each rotary counter a trip, means forreturning it to its starting-point against a stop, and for adjustingsaid stop at will, so as to allow the counter or trip to. rotate for alonger or shorter time before it trips the drop-lever and stops thereel, whereby I provide for varying within narrow limits the quantity ofmaterial to be wound on the reel before it is stopped automatically.

The invention also consists in a novel combination of parts whereby I amenabled to adjust the drop-levers outward from or inward toward therotary counters, so that the counters will be allowed to make a greateror less number of turns before they trip the droplevers, and provisionfor greatly varying the amount of material to be wound on the reel isafiorded. l

The invention also consists in various novel details of construction andcombinations of parts, to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation ofthe principal portion of a machine embodying the various features of myinvention, and showing the entire length of one reel and the adjacentend portion of the reel in line therewith. Fig. 2 represents an end viewof the machine with certain. portions broken away to show the partsbehind them. transverse section upon the plane of the dotted line m m,Fig. 1. Fig. 4: represents atransverse vertical section of the upperpartof the machine upon the plane of the dotted line yy, Fig. 1, andupon a larger scale. Fig. 5 represents a side view of the partsshown inFi 4 upon the same scale. Fig. 6 represents a horizontal section of oneof the end frames of the machine upon the dotted line z c, Fig. 2, and aplan view of the rotary counters, stops, or trips and theirappurtenances, all upon a larger scale than in Fig. 2. Fig. '7represents a side view of one end portion of a reel of my improvedconstruction. Fig. 8 represents a transverse section thereof. Fi 9represents a detail plan view of certain mechanism for re- Fig. 3represents a vertical ciprocating the traverse bars of the machine, butwhich forms no part of my invention; and Fig. 10 represents aperspective view of one of the drop-wires on a larger scale.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

A designates the two end frames of the machine, andA the longitudinalportions of the frame, which extend between and connect the end frames.

At about the middle of the length of the machine are two frames,Aflwhich are supported upon the upper longitudinal bar or stretoher, A.

B designates the reel-shafts, which are arranged in two pairs, the reelsof each pair being arranged side by side and in line with the reels ofthe opposite pair, as shown in Fig. 1.

Each reel-shaft is entirely independent of all the others, and they aresupported in open bearings a in the end frames, A, and intermediateframes, A so that they can be readily removed and replaced by otherswhen they are'full.

It is desirable to have two sets of reels to each machine, in order thatone set of reels may be used in reeling while the skeins wound 011 theother set are being steamed, dried, and removed from the reel.

The two end frames, A, and the two intermediate frames, A, have archedor rounded tops, as clearly shown in Figs. 2, 3, andet, and the roundedor arched portions serve as guards to aid in guiding and directing thereel-shafts B into their open bearings a.

S designates the supports upon which the spools or bobbins b aresupported in two rows in zigzag relation to each other, so as to securea compact arrangement, and from each set of spools or bobbins thethreads or fibers are conducted through fliers I), over rods Z)",through drop-wires I), through eyes upon the traverse bar I), and thento the reel. The traverse-bar b of each reel is operated in an ordinaryway by means of a horizontal vibrating lever, b

which is shown in Fig. 9, and which is actuated by a cam, 1), upon avertical shaft, N, which is rotated by a gear-wheel, b and pinion b onthe reel-shaft. Each reel-shaft B should have a pinion, 1)", upon it forengaging with the wheels I) when the reels are placed in the machine.

Before describing particularly the mechanism for driving the reels,Iwould remark that it is of such a nature that any one of the reels willbe stopped automatically when full or when a thread breaks, or by handwhen desired for any purpose,while all the other reels are in operation,and without interfering with the other reels in any way. All the reelsare operated by a driving mechanism arranged between the twointermediate frames, A and best shown in Figs. 4 and 5, but also inFigs. 1, 2, and 8; and the shafts of the several wheels of this drivingmechanism extend between and rotate in bearings in said frames.

pulley G are gear-wheels c, which intermesh,

and will therefore rotate in reverse directions, and motion is impartedto them both by the pinion c engaging with one of them. v

On the outside of each wheel 0, and engaging therewith, is a secondgear-wheel, c", and each wheel 0 is interposed between and fast to twofrictional driving-wheels, 0 which rotate with it. The gear-wheel c andwheels 0 may be made in one piece, or permanently connected together,and they are rotated continuously in the direction of the arrows in Fig.4.. p

Upon the ends of each of the reel-shafts B is a wheel, 0, which restsupon one of the driving-wheels c", and when the reel-shafts are notraised the wheels 0 rest upon the drivingwheels 0, and are rotated byfrictional contact therewith. When the inner end of any one of thereel-shafts B is raised sufficiently to take its wheel 0 out of contactwitlrthe adjacent wheel 0, the rotation of that reel is stopped, whileall the others continue in operation.

It is sometimes desirable to stop one of the reels for one purpose oranother, and to provide for this I employ a lever, D, for each reel, theform of which is shown clearly in Figs. 3 and 4. These levers arefulcrumed at d to the frame A", and their upper edges are eccentric tothe pivots and move under the reelshafts, while theiroutwardly-projecting arms (1 form handles whereby they may be movedinward. In their upper edges the levers are formed with depressions orcavities d", and when one of them is moved inward it acts upon thereel-shaft and raises it so as to move its wheel 0* out of contact withthe wheel 0, where it is held by the shaft resting in the cavity ordepression d until the lever is drawn back. Below each reel is arrangeda dropwire frame, which is composed of a fulcrum shaft or bar, 0, arms6, projecting outward tate without interferingwith the others.

To the fulcrum shaft or rod 6 of each frame is attached abalance-weight, e, which may be adjusted to accurately counterbalancethe frame, and the said shaft or rod 0 is preferably supported uponknife-edge bearings, so.

that it vibrates under a very slight impulse.

Upon the inner end of the fulcrum shaft or rod 0 of each drop-wireframe, and beneath the wheel 0 on the reel-shaft, is a lever, e, whichhas a se'ctonlike and eccentric face, and if the frame vibrates downwardthe lever e is carried against the face of the, wheel 0,

as shown in Fig. 1, and in the left-hand lever in Fig. 4, and by therotation of said wheel the said lever is drawn in under it, and raisesit out of contact with the driving-wheel 0 thus stopping the reel.

The drop-wires b on each side of the machine are all supported upon arod, d on which they may turn, and when any one of the threads breaks orruns out its drop-wire falls upon the rod c of the drop-wire frame, andthereby tilts'or vibrates the frame, so as to.cause its lever B to raisethe wheel 0* on the reel-shaft out of contact with the drivingwheel a.When it is desired to again start the reel, it is done by means of alever, E, which is pivoted at d, and when swung inward acts upon thesector-facedlever e. The arrangement of the levers E is clearly shown inFig. 4, and also in Figs. 2 and 3.

The drop-wires I) may be of any suitable form; but in order to preventthe threads from escaping from them and snarling up, I prefer to makethem of a piece of wirecoiled at about the middle of its length to forman eye for the reception of the thread, and the two portions of the wireextend parallel with each other to the rod b, around which they arecoiled. The form of the drop wire is shown clearly in Fig. 10.

I will now describe the rotary counters, stops. or trips, which stop therotation of the reels when the required amount of material is wound uponthem, and which are best shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 6. These rotarycounters, stops, or trips consist of ratchet-wheels F, two of which aremounted at each end of the machine, outside th e end frame, A, and arescrewed upon screw-threaded studs-or journals f, projecting from thesaid end frame, as shown in Fig. 6, and having one a right and the othera left hand thread; hence when the wheels F are turned they aremovedlongitudinally along the studs f in one direction or the other.

Upon the end of each reel-shaft Bis a small cam, g, which at eachrotation of the reel de presses a small lever, g, pivoted at one end tothe frame A, and carrying at the free end a drive-pawl, g,which engageswith the ratchetwheel F and moves it forward a tooth at each rotation ofthe reel. The lever 51 is returned after each depression by a spring,.(shown in Fig. 2,) and the ratchet-wheel is prevented from movingbackward by a stop-pawl, 9*;

G designates drop-levers which are arranged outside the wheels F, andwhich are pivoted at their outer ends by screw-threaded studs h to theframe A, while their inner ends rest in their normal position on restsor supports it.

Upon each lever G isan upwardly-projecting arm, 72.", carrying aninwardly-projecting pin, h (shown in Fig. 6,) and upon each lever is aprojection, If, the face of which is ll1-- clined, as clearly shown inFig. 6, while upon the front side of the wheel F is a projection, h. Thedrop -levers Gr also carry arms 72.",

which project inward through the frame A and over the adjacent arms 6 ofthe drop-wire frame, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6. While reeling, the innerends of the levers G rest upon the rests or supports it, and as thereels become filled the ratchet-wheels F- are advanced toward the'outerends of their screw-threaded studs or journalsf by the action of thedrivepawl 9 WVhen the wheel F approaches the end of its stud f, as isthe case with the right-- hand wheel in Fig. 6, its projection It bearsagainst the inclined projection h" on the lever and springs the leveroutward, so that its inner end is pushed off the rest or support It andthe lever falls, bringing its projecting arm 71 down upon the arm 0 ofthe drop-wire frame, and thereby moving the sector-faced lever 6" intocontact with the wheel 0" on the reel-shaft B, and moving the said wheelout of contact with the driving-wheel 0", thereby stopping the reel.When the drop-levers G fall, their inner ends are arrested by a stop orrest, 8, (shown clearly in Fig. 2,) and the levers are thereby held sothat the pins h h old the pawls g and out of engagement with theratchetwheels F.

Upon the drop-levers G are upwardly-projecting arms, h, which carrytargets G, consisting of colored disks or other indicators, and when thedrop-levers fall the fact is made clearly apparent by the changedposition of the targets or indicators G. If one of the reels stops, theattendant glances to see the po-- has tripped or thrown oif thedrop-lever G, it-

must be turned back upon its stud f to the starting-point.

H designates shafts, of which one is arranged on each side of themachine, and these shafts are rotated by means of belts H, driving frompulleys upon the shafts of the wheels 0.

Attached permanently to each of the ratchetwheels F is a pulley, I, andthe said pulleys are connected with the shafts H by means of crossedbelts I. These belts tend to turn the wheels F in the opposite directionto that in which the pawls turn them; but the belts are slack enough soas to slip upon the pulleys when the ratchet-wheels are being advancedby the said pawls. When the droplever G of any reel falls, theinwardly-projecting pin it bears against the stop-pawl g and raises boththe pawls outof engagement with the wheel F, whereupon it is free to bereversed in motion, and is screwed back upon the stud f by the belt I.The wheel F is turned back untilaprojection on its inner side strikesagainst a stop, 5, which prevents it from moving farther back, and formsa starting-point, from which the forward rotation of the wheelcommences. The stop 12 is upon a plate, j, which fits loosely upon thestud and which is held in place, after adjustment, by a clamp- I the armis is swung back into position for use,

ing-bolt, j, fitting a curved slot, j in the plate. By turning the platej, the stop iis shifted so as to allow the wheel F to turn back more orless before striking it, and by thus shifting the projecting stop byadjusting the plate 9' the amount of material which may be wound on thereel before it is automatically stopped may be varied at pleasure, andthe exact amount of material in each skein is regulated, and may bevaried as may desired. The adjustment of the slotted plates j, however,only provides for varying to a limited extent the quantity of materialwhich may be wound on the reel before it is stopped automatically; andto enable the quantity to be varied within wide limits, I provide forshifting the drop-levers G outward away from the frame A. In thisexample of my invention the studs it, upon which the levers G arefulcrumed, are screwed onto the levers, and they are provided, onopposite sides of the frame A, with a shoulder, m, and a nut, an, asshown in Fig. 6, which provide for clamping them to the frame. Byloosening the nut m, the stud is left free to turn, and by turning it byhand in one or the other direction, which may be done by a pin, 44.,inserted through it, the lever G will be moved toward or from the frameA, and the rotary counter Fwill be free to make a greater or less numberof turns before its projection h strikes the projection h on the lever Gand trips said lever. The same adjustment of the drop-levers might beprovided for in other ways-as, for instance, by having the studs fitloosely in the levers, and screwed into the frame A, where they may berigidly clamped by a jam-nut. In either construction the rests h, forthe free ends of the levers, should be adjustable outward and inward,and this may be provided for by slotting the holes in said rests throughwhich the bolts pass by securing said rests to the frames, as shown indotted lines in Fig. 6. WVhen the drop-levers G are again raised andsupported upon their rests or supports, the pawls g again engage withthe wheels F, and the latter are rotated again until the rotary countersor trip-wheels F knock off the levers G, as above described.

Any form or construction of reel may be employed; but I prefer to use areel of the kind shown clearly in Figs. 7 and 8, because of the facilitywith which the skeins of material may be removed from the reel. Thereelshaft B has arms 7c projecting from it, and carrying thelongitudinal bars is", on which the material is wound. Three of the arms70 pro ject rigidly from the shaft, and have the bars is rigidly boltedto them; but the third arm, 70, is pivoted to the arms is, and is alsopivoted to the bar If. When the reel is in use, the bar k", which ispivoted to the arm It, occupies the position shown in full lines in Fig.7 but when the skeins are to be removed the arm 70 is swung to one side,as indicated in dotted lines, to draw its bar inward, so that the skeinsmay be removed without difficulty. Then it strikes against a stop, Z,which prevents the arm from moving past a position in the same planewith the arms 7c. It will be understood that there is a similararrangement of arms k 70 at each end of the reel.

It will be seen that not only is the driving mechanism located betweenthe two. pairs of 7 5 reels, but said mechanism is located midway in alongitudinal direction between the reels of each pair.

Bymy invention I provide a machine inwhich the four reels, although theyare operated by a common driving mechanism, are each separate from andindependent of each other, and are capable of being stopped, started,removed, and replaced separately and without interfering with eachother.

NVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

l. The combination of the two pairs of ree1- shafts B, the shafts ofeach pair being arranged side by side and in line with the shafts of theother pair, friction-wheels 0" upon the adjacent inner ends of saidshafts, with friction drivingwheels c, on which the wheels o rest, meansfor raising any one of the reel-shafts independently of the others, tocarry its wheels 0 out of contact with its driving-wheel c, adriving-pul1ey, 0, arranged between the pairs of shafts and midwaybetween the shaftsof each pair, and mechanism for transmitting motionfrom this pulley O to all of the friction driving-wheels 0 allsubstantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of the two pairs of reelshafts B, provided withfriction-wheels c, and arranged, as herein described, with two frictiondriving-wheels, c and an interposed gearwheel, 0 connected together andarranged below the shafts, which are in line on each side of themachine,,the friction-wheels 0 of the reel-shafts resting on thefriction drivingwheels 0, the hand-levers D, whereby any one of saidreel-shafts may be raised independently of the others to carry its wheel0" out of contact with its friction driving-wheel 0 the singledriving-pulley O and pinion c, and the gear-wheels c, for transmittingmotion from the pinion c to the interposed gear-wheels c, allsubstantially as specified.

3. The combination, with the rod 1) of the drop-wires If, each composedof a single piece coiled at about the middle of its length to form aneye, and having two parallel portions extending from said eye to andcoiled around said rod 12 substantially as herein described.

4. The combination, with one or more reels and driving mechanismtherefor, of a sepa-' rate stop-motion for each reel, a rotary counteror trip for each reel, and a separate droplever adapted to be releasedby said counter thereon or to a thread breaking or running out,substantially as herein described.

6. The combinatiomwith one or more reels, driving mechanism therefor,and independent stop-motions, of a separate rotary counter or trip and aseparate drop-lever for each reel,

mechanism for advancing the counters with a step -by-step motion, andmechanism for turning the counter or counters backward whenreleased,substantially as herein described.

7 The combination, with the two pairs of reels and their common drivingmechanism, of separate stop-motions for theseveral reels, theratchet-wheel counters F and their at tached pulleys I, the belts 1 andmeans for driving them, the screw-threaded studs the drive-pawls 5 andthe drop-levers G, having pins h, and adapted to act upon thestop-motionsto stop any one of the reels, substantially as hereindescribed.

8. The combination, with two pairs of reels and their common interposeddriving mechanism, of separate stop-motions for the several reels, theratchet-wheel counters F, their driving said belts, the screw-threadedstuds f, the drive-pawls g", the drop-levers G, havk ing pins 72,3, andadapted to act on the several stop-motions, and the adjustable stops forarresting the backward movement of said counters F, substantially asherein described.

9. The conlbinationmith a rotary counter, F, of a droplever, G,fulcrumed at one end, and a rest, h, for supporting the free end of saidlever, substantially as specified.

10. The combinatiomwith a rotary counter, F, of a drop-lever, G,fulcrumed at one end, a rest, h, for supporting the free end of saidlever, and a stop, 8, for arresting said lever in its fall,substantially as specified.

11. The combinatiomwith a rotary counter, F, of a drop-lever, G, afulcrum stud or pin, it, providing for the adjustment of said levertoward and from said counter, and a. rest, 72, for supporting the freeend of said lever, and also adjustable, substantially as specified.

12. The combination, with the frame A and a rotary counter, F, of adroplever, G, a fulcrum-stud, 7L, screwed into said lever and adapted tobe turned in said frame, and an adjustable rest, A, for supporting thefree end of said lever, substantially as specified.

JOHN ATWOOD. lVitnesses E. E. BRADLEY, WM. A. GILBERT.

